Court Has Barred Us From Going On Strike But It Can’t Stop Us From Organizing Protest – Joe Ajaero

In the wake of the breakdown in negotiations between the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government, and representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the leader of the Union, Comrade Joe Ajaero has come out to insist that a court injunction earlier procured by the President cannot stop Nigerians from hitting the streets in a nationwide protest.

Speaking during an interview on Africa Independent Television’s ‘Kaakaki’ program on Thursday, July 27, Ajaero argued that the NLC’s decision to stage a nationwide protest was not in any way contravening the earlier ruling of an Industrial court barring unions from going on strike over the removal of fuel subsidy.

According to him, it is the Constitutional right of Nigerians to stage a protest against government policies that affect them negatively.

He said; “Nigerians and the leadership of the Labour Union want to commence on their protest, since the court has said the NLC should not go on strike based on the 520 Naira fuel increase. And we have obeyed them. But by the virtue of other court rulings, especially in the case of Muhammadu Buhari versus the Police, the courts were clear on the issue of protests. The matter was cleared right from the Court of Appeal, all the way to the Supreme Court. So, I don’t think we are in contempt of any court order.

So, we, like other Nigerians, will commence protests from the second day in August. I have searched our statute books and gone through various rulings, and I have not seen any order that abolished protests. There is none that abolished peaceful rallies, and that is what we intend to embark on. Unless anybody can explain to me how they can juxtapose a peaceful rally with a strike action.”

SOURCE: YouTube (Forward video to 1:36:23).

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